Leaving the Ashes Behind
by theAnGerFlarE
Summary: Loki is under the demands of Thanos once more, but not under his own control. With the God of Death looming dangerously over the distance, the Avengers have a new initiative: Save Loki or watch as the Earth is destroyed. As always, Nick Fury has a plan- one that involves a dark and dangerous hero.
1. Return of the Tesseract

The strange readings were back once again. Fear was starting to spread. Slowly, but surely.

SHIELD had been obsessing over those data changes for two weeks, every available scientist working constantly to trace the strange energy. Each result was compared to every known substance to mankind: plutonium, uranium, nuclear radiations and so on. Frustratingly enough, nothing even close to those readings were found. Stranger still, the fluctuations in energy continued. Even Banner was called in to do some research against the strange readings.

The agents were starting to panic. Nothing this close had ever been found except for...

But it was impossible. It was in Asgard, far away from Earth.

After weeks of slowly trudging through endless data numbers, SHIELD was able locate the source of that energy in the city of Paris, France.

Natasha Romanov looked through her files and papers while drinking a cup of coffee, her perfectly manicured fingers tapping against the porcelain mug. She sat in a small cafe in Paris, acting as though she was a normal civilian instead of a trained assassin waiting for her next target to walk in. Her eyes glanced up at the doorway every few minutes, watching the French people walk by.

Her eyes scanned the neatly typed leaflets in front of her. Every paper was the same bullshit she had read through the night before, the papers smudged with her fingertips and the ink blurring from the countless times she had looked over it.

How many times had she read over her damn mission papers, trying to remember every detail and objective? Every action she took could be her last, every thought and breath that she breathed would mean the end of her life. One mistake would compromise the entire mission.

And the Black Widow wasn't foolish enough to be careless.

Fury had given her specific instructions before she had left the SHIELD base: _Don't get yourself killed, and come back with the source of that fucking energy, Romanov. I'm counting on you. _

She really wished that Fury would go on his own missions sometimes, instead of sending her out to do it. She had better things to do in her time than to sit around and watch scumbags mope around, planning their world domination or revenge. It wasn't as though any of them could actually DO it.

Natasha put her coffee down and closed the folder, tossing it disgustedly into her bag. She looked down at her cold croissant in distaste, not hungry in the slightest.

"What do you mean you _lost it?" _

Natasha's ears honed in on the voice almost immediately, her attention suddenly back and sharp as ever. She took another sip of her lukewarm coffee and stared down at her table, seeming to be lost in interest rather than eavesdropping.

It was two men, walking into the cafe. The two of them took a seat in the booth near her, sliding roughly into the leather seats with a grunt and quietly ordering some coffee. From what Natasha could see out of the corner of her eye, both men were nicely dressed, their suits prim and proper. But they had a scowl on their face that meant they weren't none too pleased.

Their expressions were written so clearly on their faces that Natasha could read them like a book.

"I didn't lose it." one of the men snapped. "But the thing is out of control. I can't control it. And believe me when I say that I've tried."

"Bullshit. You lost it. Or maybe you gave it away to some scientists, you bastard."

"No, I didn't! Aren't you listening to me? The thing is bloody nuts. We shouldn't be toying with it anymore, or else we're going to end up dead."

_Dead. _Natasha's mind was whirring quickly, a thousand thoughts in her head. It could be a countless amount of things: ranging from nuclear weapons to mere little dirt-bombs. What were they planning? Natasha picked at her cold croissant a little, tapping her finger against her coffee mug.

"You're just being a wuss. The thing is plenty safe to toy with, and when we build that nucleotransformer ray with it, we shall be millionaires!" There was the sound of someone slurping their coffee, and then a cough. "We'll be more famous than that ignorant American, Stark."

Natasha almost scoffed at that. _Good luck. _

The other man paused and made a small whiny noise, fiddling with what sounded like silverware. "Then you play with it. I don't want to touch it. Besides, if the feds get a whiff of it-"

"They _won't._" the man said exasperatingly. Then he leaned in closer, nearly whispering his words. "Take me to it, then. I have the module for the transformer in my car, and we can start the initial project. Then the world will beg to know our secrets."

Natasha took a sip of her coffee once again as the two men got up from their booth and moved out the door, the small bell ringing as they left. She waited a few moments, waiting for the dust to settle before she picked up her own little bag and got up, moving silently towards the glass door.

Even with the blinding sun in her eyes, Natasha calmly took her sunglasses from her little bag and put them on her face. It didn't take her long to spot the two figures bobbing down the street, their heads occasionally ducking out of sight before popping back up again. Natasha followed them silently, following close enough so that she wouldn't lose them, but not so close that they would find out that the same woman had been around them since the cafe.

Before she could reach one of them though, the two men had ducked into their car, the tires squealing as they shot down the street.

_You had to make this difficult, didn't you? _Natasha grit her teeth as she hopped onto her own little motorcycle, one of Stark's gadgets that allowed her vehicle to come whenever she commanded it to. She appreciated Stark's gift; barely. It started with a soft grumble, and she went down the street after them, trailing behind a good-sized distance.

After a few minutes of turning down cobblestone corners and waiting aimlessly at the stupid little stop lights, she had lost them. Their large black car had blended in with the rest of traffic.

Natasha pressed a button on the small dash of the motorcycle, and spoke into it softly. "Black Honda, two white males in the car. Trace the energy signature."

Just like that, Natasha could see the little GPS on the dash light up. There was a small arrow pointing down the street, and then it curved into a corner and disappeared from view. She revved her bike and was riding again, this time following the little red arrow as it led her to her targets. As she had hoped, the GPS had picked up on the strange energy signature that she was hunting, the signal growing invariably stronger each second that passed by.

She was close to it.

Just as she had expected, she saw the black Honda sitting on the curb in front of a large building. A large sign stood in the middle of the parking lot of the warehouse, one that was rundown with age and weather. The entire street was deserted, as though no car or person had been through the area in centuries. It was like a ghost town. Natasha squinted as she tried to read the sign that announced what the building was.

_**Proctor and Gamble: Biotechnology Equipment and Laboratories **_

With a small humph, Natasha parked her motorcycle and stalked off to the entrance. So, a science building, hm? It would be the perfect place to tinker with new-found energies, to test their weapon.

She touched the door handle and tried to turn it, but it was locked shut. With a scowl she simply went back down the steps and off to the side, where it was hidden from the road. Number one rule of the Assassin world: Never give anyone an opportunity to see you. She thought of this mantra as she scaled the crumbled wall, sliding the window open with some difficultly. The glass was broken, and it shattered a bit as she shoved the frame upward, but it was quiet enough to not draw attention. She slipped through and landed on the floor silently, like a cat jumping from a ledge.

She looked around her and saw abandoned tables, broken lab equipment, and scattered pieces of paper that littered the floor. The room was empty for the most part, although she spotted a few rats skittering across the broken glass and papers, looking for food.

Natasha crinkled her nose and crept out into the hallway, listening intently for any sounds. She knew that the two men were in the building.

There was the sound of footsteps above her head, the ceiling moving along with each steps. Little flakes of paint came floating down, and Natasha scuttled silently into the hallway as she followed the noise.

Two pairs of feet. Decidedly heavy enough to be male. There weren't any voices, but from the obvious stomping around and loud noises of tables being pushed out of the way, the two men had found themselves a quiet place to work. Here, they would be alone to play with whatever toy they had found.

Natasha slowly crept up the stairs, keeping care not to make noise, or to let her feet slip against the concrete steps. She was silent, like a shadow. Her hands didn't touch the walls or the rails, and even her breathing was quiet. The top of her head peered from the wall of the stairway, and she could see the two men bent over a table, their suitcases open and papers scattered on the lab benches.

She narrowed her eyes as one of the men dipped his hands into the open suitcase, his fingers clutched around something small and blue. The light radiated between his fingers, and even in the daylight she could see the rays shining on the concrete ground. There was a soft _clunk _as the man set down the object and mused to the other one softly, his voice inaudible and garbled.

Enough was enough.

Natasha slid out silently, her gun drawn. Only the soft click of her cocking the gun was heard, and the two men spun around instantly, their own pistols in their hands at the intrusion. As they glared at her and then stared in disbelief, Natasha felt a smile tug at the corner of her mouth. They were surprised, weren't they? No doubt they hadn't expected a woman to be behind them.

"Hello." Natasha said in a sweet voice, her fingers calm as it rested against the trigger. Her demeanor never wavered. "Get down on the ground now, boys."

One of the men scoffed, looking at the other man with complete and utter frustration. "You told me that no one knew about this, you idiot!" His gaze leveled back to Natasha, cold. "Look, lady. I don't know who you are, or what you want, but I ain't doin-"

A swift kick in the jaw ended his little speech mid-sentence. Natasha spun easily on the heel of her foot, watching as the man fell heavily to the ground and holding his jaw in pain. A little pathetic trickle of blood came from his mouth, pooling down the corner of his hand. The useless pistol that he had held so threateningly in his hand had skittered across the concrete, hitting the wall with a quiet patter. Eyes wide, he spat and glared at her, obvious hatred gleaming in those cloudy eyes.

The other man who was unharmed just stared at her with utter fear. Not as brave as his comrade, it appeared.

"Get down on the ground." Natasha said smoothly, repeating her words. She blinked slowly, as though she was bored with the entire thing. "Or I'll make sure you end up like your little friend here."

"Hey-" the man said sharply, his voice lowered down in a growl. Natasha merely kicked him in the jaw again; not a hair out of place as she resumed her eye contact on the other trembling bastard in front of her.

He looked as though he was going to piss himself. The pistol in his hand was shaking so hard that if he shot, it would go anywhere but her. Natasha quirked her eyebrow.

"W-what do you want?" The man stuttered. His eyes looked at Natasha and then down at his defeated comrade, then back up to Natasha once more. "This don't concern ya! I p-promise!"

"Actually, this does. You have property that doesn't belong to you, and I'm here to get it back." Natasha put down her gun and merely walked towards the table and the man, her eyes cold. Her heels clicked loudly against the floor now, echoing around the room. She was merely inches from the scared man now, and the other one on the floor didn't dare move. The glowing on the table got her attention.

It looked suspiciously like..

An arm came flying towards her face.

Natasha ducked with lightning reflexes, barely missing the limb by an inch. Her own arm came up behind the man to push him forwards, her legs sliding out underneath his own and knocking him to the ground chest-first. The man let out a pained shriek for help, but Natasha merely slammed the heel of her foot into the base of his neck. The screams stopped.

The man with the broken jaw stared at her with renewed fear. Then, anger took it's place as he realized what she had done. Pain forgotten, he got to his feet and rushed forwards, his hands outreached to strangle her little throat.

Natasha merely felt her gun slip into her nimble fingers. The trigger went off with a small little _bang_, and the man slumped to his knees, blood moving down his forehead. His eyes rolled up as if to see the wound, and then he fell to the floor with a loud and wet thump. There was no sound anymore; just two bodies lying on the ground, utterly lifeless.

Tucking her gun back into her belt, Natasha turned to the table. Amiss the scattered laboratory papers and the scribbly handwriting was the object she had been searching for. She could barely believe her eyes as she stared at it. It hadn't been that long since she had last seen it, but she remembered how desperately she had hoped she would never see it again.

The last time SHIELD had it in their grasp, it nearly caused the end of the world. Captain America himself had recovered the thing from the ocean, and the God of Thunder had taken it away to his realm, where it was out of reach. Thousands of people died; all because of a God with a ferocious temper and a stupid helmet.

The Tesseract. It lay in front of her, looking harmless. But it was pulsing with power, the blue glowing dangerously against the white papers.

With slightly shaking hands, Natasha picked up the Tesseract and placed it back into it's suitcase, the object latching securely against the grey foam. The lid was pushed on the top and the suitcase was firmly gripped together. She held onto the handle and moved away from the table. It was surprisingly heavy for a little blue cube.

She moved around the bodies with careful steps, taking care not to step into the pools of blood. Her heels clicked down the stairs seamlessly, and she pushed her way out of the building, the doors creaking open from months of unuse. Her motorcycle was still perched on the curb.

With a small little smile, Natasha perched her new suitcase on the side of her cycle and hopped onto it, turning the key in the ignition. As the machine roared to life and she rode away, she couldn't help but watch the Proctor and Gamble building slowly disappear from view. With the two scumbags that she had just offed.

Natasha sighed as soon as she couldn't see the building anymore. A heavy feeling of dread replaced the feeling of elation at the success of her mission. She was currently carrying the most dangerous item in the entire universe; one that would decide the future of SHIELD and possibly Earth itself. She slowly took her finger and pressed it to the little Bluetooth device attached to her ear.

She was almost relieved to hear Fury's voice, nearly immediately after the dial tone. "Romanov. Report?"

"Mission successful, sir." Natasha said curtly, gazing at the French view and the hazy caramel sky. "Although, we have a little problem. It seems as though those readings were worse than we had thought. The Tesseract, Fury. It's back."

There was a long, nearly pregnant pause. "You've gotta be kidding me. Tell me this isn't a joke, Romanov."

"I wish." Natasha turned the corner and sped down the nearly abandoned road. She knew that a SHIELD jet would be awaiting her shortly. "I tracked down these two idiots who thought they would be the next Tony Stark. They planned to make a nucleotransformer ray."

"Idiots are everywhere. Regardless, the Tesseract is safe with you?"

"Affirmative." Natasha confirmed. She slowed the motorcycle down and stopped at the end of the abandoned road. "It's safe. For now, anyway."

There was another long pause, and then a sigh. Natasha felt like returning the gesture.

"For now isn't good enough. Come back to base. We'll discuss it then."

Natasha crooked her head as though he could see her. "Who's we?"

"The Avengers Initiative, of course. I haven't forgotten about it. I'll see you soon."

There was a dial-tone, an indication that Fury had hung up. With a soft sigh, Natasha looked at the suitcase hanging on the side of her motorcycle with distaste. She couldn't help but envision the horrible war they had in New York; one complete with the Chitauri and a certain God, standing on top of the Stark Tower with a look of utter triumph on his face.

Natasha scowled. No: Not again.

This time, they would be prepared.


	2. Disillusioned Plans

As Natasha stepped onto the floor of the helicarrier for the first time since the New York incident, she felt a small sense of dread and relief flood her gut. The jet that had carried her back to base powered down, and Agents flooded to the jet to take it back to storage until they needed it again. She was used to the chaotic bustle of SHIELD's base, and to be honest, she had missed it. The suitcase was clutched tightly in her hands as she walked to the white doors of the base. They slid open silently.

The inside of the building was anything but silent, though. There were some small smiles directed her way. Natasha smiled thinly back at them, tossing her red hair across her shoulders a bit. The Agents at SHIELD respected her, thankfully. They weren't unfriendly in the slightest. She had missed this part too- she had always enjoyed being a part of something, instead of being forced into it. Everyone here was the same: everyone had the same ledger.

She spied Maria Hill looking intently into a computer, her fingers typing frantically on the keyboard. The brunette only looked up for a moment, but the second she and Natasha's eyes met, she smiled widely. As she excused herself from her station, Maria clicked on her Bluetooth and nearly ran towards Natasha, embracing her in a light and shallow hug.

"Agent Romanov." Maria said, a hint of a smile in her voice. Her brown eyes were light. She looked exactly the same as Natasha remembered: brown hair pulled back in a tight bun and her sharp face softened by a grin. "You've made it. I was starting to think that you bailed on us."

Natasha pulled back and gave her a genuine little smile. Maria was the one person she had missed the most. The female spy was easygoing once you got to know her, and despite her fierce reputation as a spy (which was true, to say the least), Maria was the least judgmental person Natasha had ever met. Besides Barton, Maria had a few gentle secrets in which she hid from her job. One of them was that she adored kittens with all her heart. She knew that Maria had a few pictures of kittens stashed in her private bunker, and even a little stuffed cat that she slept with when the missions got too intense.

"I was considering it." Natasha said lightly, letting a small chuckle leave her lips. She tapped on the suitcase with one finger, her light joke dissipating and her smile dissolving. Maria's smile also dropped off her face as she stared at it, her eyes growing wide. The both of them seemed to know what the other one was thinking, but Natasha lowered her voice to talk to her anyway. "Has Fury told you anything?"

"No." Maria shook her head lightly, her eyes shifting from the suitcase. "You know how it is with him. He's ordered me to keep quiet, and that everything is confidential until further notice. Not only that, but I have a few calls to make under orders. A few of them aren't.. quite within our reach."

Natasha raised her eyebrow suspiciously, knowing exactly what Maria was referring to. "Don't tell me you have to attempt to get Thor from Asgard. The last time I saw him, he was busy taking Loki back to their home. It's not like it's within reach, Hill."

"I'm aware of this. It's a good thing Thor told me a few ways to talk to him from here." Maria's faint smile returned, the warm gleam in her eyes back. She cocked her head respectively. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go out and scream at the sky for a bit. Thor told me to talk to someone named Heimdall. Don't give me _that_ look, Romanov, I know what I'm doing."

A grin crooked at the corner of Natasha's mouth. "I'll be with Fury. You know where to find me."

"Of course," Maria patted her on the shoulder once before she walked past, moving towards the doors that lead outside. Natasha stifled a small chuckle as she turned herself and walked down the busy hall, moving towards Fury's office on the third floor.

She couldn't help but be amused by Thor's way of communicating with SHIELD from Asgard.

He had told Natasha the same thing before he had left with Loki, his large hand resting gently against her shoulder in an intimate warrior embrace. It didn't bother her in the slightest that he treated her as though she was another warrior on the battlefield (that's what Thor called everything: a battlefield). In fact, it only made her feel better. Thor had told her about another female warrior on Asgard who was evidently strikingly similar to her. She recalled him saying, _'If you were to ever meet her, I have a feeling that you two would associate as friends quickly'. _

And, of course, Thor made it very clear that if anyone was to talk to him from Earth to Asgard; they would have to address him through a man named Heimdall. He was all the All-Seer; whatever that meant. Natasha wasn't too knowledgeable about Norse mythology, and she didn't exactly have time on her hands to learn.

Perhaps she would sit down with a book sometime and just read about it. It might be interesting enough.

Natasha waited quietly in the elevator, listening to the hum of the machine as it went upwards. Even the machinery here moved with efficiency, yet nothing was purely silent. It was too busy around SHIELD for anything to be quiet: the soft chatter of Agents talking, the soft buzz of the computers, and the hiss of the occasional coffeepot making caffeinated drinks for everyone. She leaned against the wall of the elevator, letting the cool metal sink through her thin clothing. She could still smell the French perfume on her skin.

The elevator opened with a soft ding and she stepped out, the suitcase swinging softly against her leg. She could see Fury's office on the very edge of the brightly lit hallway, the entire third floor nearly emptied of people. There were a few janitors cleaning the floors to the right as she walked by them, and she offered a small smile as she passed by.

They didn't return the smile.

Natasha knocked lightly on Fury's door, her hand tightening on the handle of the suitcase. There was a gruff voice from the other side. "Come in."

The door opened quietly and Natasha stepped into the small room, closing it behind her with a quiet little latch. Fury looked at her condescendingly from his desk, his one good eye staring at her expectantly. She held up the suitcase silently and watched as his face grew more interested. He leaned forwards as she placed the suitcase on his desk, making sure not to slam it down.

Fury looked at her once more before slowly unlatching the suitcase. A blue glow immediately shined through the cracks, spilling onto his desk like a creepy flashlight. He looked at Natasha with a grim expression.

"So. You weren't lying." he said dryly, closing the suitcase back up. He ignored Natasha's look of utter indignance and continued, leaning back in his chair stiffly. "The damn thing is back on Earth, even after we had given it to a God."

Natasha shrugged half-heartedly, taking a seat in one of his chairs. "At least it didn't land in the ocean this time. It was in the hands of these two idiots who thought they were going to be the next Iron-Man. They didn't know what it was, thankfully, but they knew what it could do."

Fury sighed, looking as though he starting to contemplate retirement. Not that she could blame him. "They're the least of our worries. If the Tesseract escaped the Asgardian's grasp, what else do you think managed to get away from them?"

A small flutter of dread curled into her stomach like a snake, carefully twisting around in anxiety. There weren't many things that made Natasha nervous, but this made her pale from panic. She stared at Fury with narrowed eyes, knowing that her expression was plainly written on her face. And Fury stared at her with the same expression; the both of them sharing an equal amount of fear for the future of their world.

"Loki." Natasha said quietly, unsure if she even wanted to utter his name. She could still hear his quiet chuckle in the back of her mind, his crazed blue eyes staring at her through the glass cell in SHIELD. Loki was the man who would kill without a moment of hesitation, sly and sneaking around his enemies like a treacherous snake. As she met with Fury's eye she knew that he was thinking the same thing.

And her thoughts were confirmed.

"Yes, Loki." Fury muttered, clasping his hands on his desk. "Even with the Avengers Initiative, we'd get our asses kicked to the curb this time. I'm having Agent Hill go attempt to talk to Thor right now, through whatever freaky alien thing he goes through."

"All I know is that we can't afford another attack on Earth." Natasha hissed firmly, her hands clutched on the edge of Fury's desk. "If the Tesseract gets out of our hands this time, it'll have catastrophic consequences. You heard what Thor said last time. There are other worlds out there, other universes. Or.. ahem, other _realms. _And we're giving off the impression that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"Which we're not." Fury said hotly, nearly cutting her off before she could finish. "That's the last thing we need right now. New York is still recovering."

Natasha rested her hands on the suitcase, leaning up towards Fury with a scowl on her face. "Exactly. So what do you propose to do?"

There was a long pause before Fury moved. He was concentrating deeply, staring at his desk with his one eye as though it contained all of his answers. Natasha waited patiently for him to say something. Her mind was brimming with questions that she wanted to be answered instantly, although she knew that it was impossible. In fact, she hated these silences where she knew that Fury was thinking hard and long about what he was going to do next. If she had to, Natasha would just find out for herself what she wanted to know.

But after a few more seconds of terse silence, Fury spoke. "I didn't want it to come down to this, but I guess it'll have to."

"Come down to what?" she suspiciously crooked up her eyebrow.

Fury stared at her condescendingly for a moment, and she slowly slid her hands off of the suitcase and back into her lap. She watched as Fury pushed himself back in his chair and open one of his drawers, rummaging through them. Natasha could hear the sounds of papers shuffling as he searched for a file. Soon after a moment, he tossed a file onto his desk and pushed it towards Natasha, his mouth in a grim line.

She looked at it with distaste. It was a thin, lightweight file. The creamy file paper was browned with old age, and even had a ring of of coffee from a mug that had been placed onto it. It looked as though it was so old that it would break when she touched it. Sure enough, as soon as she had it in between her hands, a part of the paper crumbled off in her hands and floated down into her lap, crusty and thin. With a grimace, she looked at Fury, who merely gestured towards it.

The file opened easily enough, a puff of old file aroma coming from it. Natasha crinkled her nose a bit at it, but looked through it anyway. She looked up at Fury, placing it onto the desk. "This is from the Stone Age, Fury. Is this a joke?"

"As much as I wish it was, it isn't." Fury adjusted himself more comfortably in his chair. "Read the file, Romanov."

Natasha scoffed, but she did as he said. Her eyes read over the fine print.

_**Aislin (Last Name Unknown) **_

_**Gender: Female**_

_**Alias: (Unknown) **_

_**Age: Exact Age Unknown; estimated at 20-25 years old**_

_**Birthplace: (Unknown)**_

_**SHIELD Agent of 1944. Trained in martial arts and form. Filed under the term: Superhero. Page four. **_

"Superhero?" Natasha said aloud, looking up at Fury, her eyes narrowed. "Fury, no offense, but whoever this girl was is long gone by now. And none of us are technically classified as superheros."

"Who says she's dead?" Fury quipped with a faint trace of a smile. He pointed to the file again. "Go further in the file."

Rolling her eyes, she turned until she got to page four, the papers crinkling in her hands. The browned paper crunched against her smooth fingertips, threatening to break off.

**_Classified Under 'Superhero'_**

**_Superhero: Person(s) with paranormal abilities and strengths, often leading them to be inhuman in nature. Abilities range from mere super-strength to other events such as flying, heat, and other elemental anomalies. Be warned- person(s) with said abilities can be hot-tempered or volatile. Proceed with caution. _**

_**Superhero: Aislin, SHIELD Agent of 1944**_

_**Abilities and Strengths: Able to defy gravity and quantum physics/ Ability to harness nuclear radiation without harm/Strength far more than a normal human female at her age**_

_**Condition: Dangerous and Unstable **_

"Okay..." Natasha said quietly, looking up from the file. The more she read into it, the more she felt like she was reading some kind of comic book. Ironically, it sounded like something from Thor's world- with the flying and the ability to handle radiation. It was nothing human; unless you were the Hulk. She stared at Fury and nearly scowled at the small little amused grin on his face. "So I've read a file about an unstable Agent in the beginning of SHIELD. She's still alive?"

"Yep." Fury leaned forwards and tapped his finger on the suitcase. "She is."

Natasha set the old file down on the desk, sighing. "That's not possible, Fury. She'd be ancient. No human, no matter what their powers are, has been able to live past a century. Even Cap and I will die off eventually."

"I highly doubt this girl is human." Fury mused, taking the file away and putting it back into his drawer. "I think she's from the same world as Thor; where the people there live long lives. It wouldn't be a stretch to think that she landed on Earth all those years ago."

She stayed silent, merely huffing quietly.

"Look- there's a way out of this mess without it getting too bloody. I don't think we have a choice." Fury stated. He looked exhausted- more than normal. "But she's our last resort."

Natasha looked at the suitcase with the Tesseract in it. "So you're willing to bring back someone who's been deemed dangerous and unstable? Even as a last resort, that seems desperate."

Fury chuckled darkly at her, his face a grim mix of amusement and fear. It was a look at Natasha recognized, and she immediately clamped her mouth shut. She felt a pang of guilt for bringing that up, but she couldn't take it back. The truth was, in whole honesty, that they _were _desperate. If Loki was to come back that very day with his stupid scepter and his massive alien army, they would indeed be desperate. It wouldn't even be possible for the Avengers to get all of their supplies together. Their entire world would settle on that one, far-fetched idea of a superhero from another time.

A superhero that they knew nothing about. But Natasha had a feeling that Fury knew much more than he was leading on.

"Desperate or not, it's all we have." Fury stood up and took the suitcase, holding it tightly in his hand. "I'm putting all my trust into the Avenger's Initiative, Romanov, and you know that. It wouldn't hurt to have something to back us up, in case things go south."

Natasha turned in her seat to face Fury, on the edge of the seat. Her hands were resting placidly in her lap, showing the impression of concealed anger. "No, I understand." she said stiffly. Her facade was calm, smooth. "You need a backup in case we fail."

Fury sighed as he stared at Romanov, the two of them looking at each other as though they were in a fierce mental argument. The look on Fury's face reminded Natasha of a father scolding a daughter. It was oddly amusing, really. Natasha pursed her lips together and stood up smoothly, brushing her hands neatly against her black leather pants. Her eyes were narrowed a bit, her rage obvious, but a sweet look laced on her face.

"You know exactly that this is the best for the world." Fury said calmly, unmoved by her. "I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think it was necessary. You tell the other Avengers when they get here. I'm holding a meeting tomorrow morning, and I need everyone there. No ifs, ands, or buts about it, Romanov. Get the Hawk to come out from his nest, too."

"Very well." Natasha said curtly. She brushed past him and the suitcase, her heels clicking on the tiled floor. She could hear Fury's exhausted sigh behind her, but she didn't look back.

It was stupid of her to be angry, really.

She pressed the button on the elevator, waiting for the doors to open. There was a sharp stinging deep in her chest. She couldn't help but be insulted by Fury's plans.

It was a humiliating blow to the Avengers reputation; as though they didn't have a bad enough rep already. Stark was a raging alcoholic and a narcissist, his relationship with Pepper Potts unstable and threatening to explode. Steve Rogers was the golden boy of the old American age- an age that had long since died ever since the 90's. Thor was a literal alien who had no grasp of Earthen culture and threw his hammer whenever he got angry. Banner had anger issues that threatened to take out cities, and Barton was mildly obsessed with arrows and circus tricks. And herself?

Well, she was guilty of the murder of innocent people. Her ledger was dripping red, absolutely soaked in the lives of children and women, their screams forever wrapped in the depths of her mind. Escaping it was impossible, she knew.

Natasha waited as the elevator opened up. She slowly clicked on her Bluetooth, waiting for the dial tone to go through.

Unfortunately, she caught Barton's voice-mail. It sounded stupid, as always.

"Barton, it's Nat. I don't know if Fury has told you yet, but we have a meeting with him tomorrow. Actually.. it's an Avengers meeting. He's going to try and get the Avengers Initiative back together. The Tesseract is back. And there's a sneaking suspicion that Loki will be too."

She paused, unsure how to continue. No doubt Barton would be barreling through those doors tomorrow, absolutely furious that the Tesseract was back and that there was a possibility off Loki's reappearance. Natasha looked to the side and sighed, looking down at the seamless floors.

"Call me back. Or I'll see you tomorrow." Natasha hung up, clicking on the Bluetooth once. Her mouth was set in a grim line.

Despite what she thought about Fury's disillusioned plans, she still had to respect them. It was time to go back to her private bunker and get some rest, and prepare for the next day.


End file.
